The HEA Cafe

It’s the 31^st and my time to blog again. I like the fact that this isn’t a monthly job for me since there aren’t always 31 days in every month. Most of the 31^st days I blog aren’t all that notable with the exception of they’re having the honor of being the last day of a month. However, today’s 31^st is different. (How’s that for an opening that makes totally no sense and yet does seem to ring true. It’s a new strategy)

Today is about sweeping out the old and ushering in the new. It’s about cleaning the slate and starting fresh. So why is that? I mean what’s up with resolutions? So many people do them and then fail to follow through on them. Talk about setting one’s self up for failure! But the odd thing is, as much as I know it’s a setup, I have this need, this compulsion to do resolutions. For me, resolutions are goal settings. And goal settings have deadlines. So if I set reasonable resolutions/goals, I’m more likely to achieve them. (Yep, that makes TONS of sense. But the older you get, the distance between reasonable and achievable GROWS)

I’m learning that reasonable means accepting. In other words, accepting my limitations and basing my goals and resolutions on those limitations. I’ve an addictive personality. I can get so wrapped up in something that I fall victim (of my own making) to losing focus. I lost focus of my writing last year. I focused more on marketing than I did on writing, and I think it cost me.

So I’ve come up with only ONE new resolution this year. A change in strategy. Yep, that’s right. My sole resolution is to change my strategy.

• I’m going to write more by removing programs off my TIVO list.
• I’m going to write more by not answering email at night (I can do it when I’m at work on my breaks).
• I’m going to complete two books (I’ll shoot for three, but no need to set myself up for failure).
• What else, oh, right, I’m limiting my conference dollars and putting them into my book advertising. I’m finding having fun and socializing doesn’t equate to books sold.

But WAIT you cry. This sounds like a whole bunch of resolutions.

Well, I suppose you could think of it that way, but it’s not. I really only have one resolution this year. It a change in strategy to write more. I’m just pointing out the things I’ve got to do to accomplish that strategy. So there, Obama, Hilary, Mitt, etc.– how’s that for doublespeak. I should have been a politician. *sigh*

Happy New Year and Happy Writing

Monica

Monica Burns - http://www.monicaburns.com
Mirage, TOP PICK - Romantic Times BOOKreviews
Come Enjoy the Ahh…Sensation

Yikes! After debating for over a week what my post would contain, I up and forgot to post it! Sorry, folks.

The week following Christmas has been a blur, hasn’t it? And here you are, reading a post when you should be writing, right?

Well, here’s your opportunity to write a little fiction (just kidding) about your own resolutions for this upcoming year. 

I’ll go first. Setting aside my first few resolutions that revolve around my perennial goal to lose weight and/or get back in shape which, by the way, never seems to make it past January 15. I think it has something to do with the weight/shape I want belonging to someone who looks more like Angelina Jolie and less like me. After two weeks of looking in the mirror, I realize that’s not going to happen in this lifetime.

Okay, so here goes:

1. Quit procrastinating and finish the draft of my current WIP during January Jump-Start.

2. Get up ten minutes early, and use that time to organize my day before the day organizes me.

3. Write at least five days a week. (E-mails and posts don’t count…ouch.) I’m a writer, right?

4. Take one class on some aspect of writing at least every two months.

5. Stay active in my RWA chapters.

6. Congratulate my fellow writers on their accomplishments and help those who are struggling. Remember that I’ve been, and will continue to be, somewhere in that continuum and know how important it is to share both my successes and failures with someone who understands.

So what are your resolutions for 2008?

I was going to write something motivational for those of you who have been so busy with Christmas preparations that you haven’t had time to write but I locked myself out of the blog all day long and am just finally in here now typing away.

So, instead of doing something gentle and sweet, I’m going to boil it down to the essentials . . .

Go forth and write.

Write right now

Do not wait for New Years to make it a resolution.

Use this between week to get back into your story.

Do it now so that by the time New Years rolls around, you’ve written another chapter or two (or even three).

It’s even more important than the after Christmas sales.

You’ll be glad you did this. Trust me.

You’ve finished the book.  You’ve stopped editing and mailed it off to your editor.  Now what?  Do you celebrate?  Immediately start another?  Collapse and begin obsessively checking your email/phone messages/mailbox for the editor’s verdict?

My post-book routine has evolved over the years, but this seems to be it:  First off, I celebrate — usually with a dinner out and a good bottle of wine.  After all, writing a book is a huge accomplishment, and I want to reward myself for all that hard work.  So I take an evening, maybe even a weekend, to splurge.

I try not to obsess for at least a couple of days (I have to give the manuscript time to arrive in New York before I start wondering if my editor or agent has read it yet).  I also try not to second-guess what I wrote, wondering if I should have changed this or that scene, etc., but I have to admit that I find this hard to do.  It seems to be my nature to obsess.  About the best I can do is relegate the doubts to the back of my mind and try to ignore them.

In the meantime, as I’m trying not to obsess, I clean my office.  When I am writing, I don’t do much housework.  In fact, the dust got so bad while I was writing my latest book that not only could I blow it across my desk, but every time I sat down to write, I got an allergy attack.  (Of course, I didn’t take time to clean.  I just took an allergy pill, got out another box of tissues, and kept on writing.)

So once the book is done, I get out the dust rag, vacuum behind the desk where the dust collects, and sort through the huge piles of papers I’ve been collecting.  Then I admire my temporarily clean and nicely organized office.  And yes… since I only finish a book a couple of times a year, I have a very dusty house.  Thank goodness for allergy pills!

And then it’s back to work.  I’m happiest when I’m working on a book, so the sooner I get back to writing, the better (and I have an excuse to ignore the dust).

So how about you?  Have you developed any end-of-the-book routines?

It seems many of us are feeling the stress levels rising about now. It’s ironic that a time of year that should technically give us much pleasure is actually one of the most difficult to navigate.  Amid the shopping, planning, card writing, present-wrapping duties, shouldn’t we factor in me time? Pockets of time to find a little oasis of calm where we can restore and renew ourselves? But that’s just another thing to do, isn’t it?

“I barely have time to breathe” we say. And how true that is. Often quite literally. Because with all that rushing around we sometimes forget to breathe, or at least we barely take in enough oxygen to keep us functioning. As a result, our muscles tighten, our ribcage locks and we feel an almost pernicious tiredness that no amount of sleep will allay.

I’ve taught yoga for over twenty five years and been a practitioner for over … well, let’s just say it’s been a part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. It’s my steady foundation, my constant companion against the part of my nature that is at heart a workaholic. It keeps me grounded, brings me back to my centre, makes me focus. As a writer I can easily get locked into a story and forget to take breaks from the computer. When everything is flowing I don’t want to move away from my desk. So I carry on regardless, even when some innate part of me warns to step away … to breathe, to stretch, to be.

The demands of the holiday season have a similar effect. I push on regardless – I shop, plan, work, visit, cook, shop some more … and if I’m lucky manage to get some writing done. Wherever I am, I feel I should be somewhere else. Whatever I’m doing, I feel I should be doing something else. It feels like I’m always coming from behind. But beneath all the constant hurrying, the continual doing, that little voice niggles … STOP, it chides. Relax. Let go. Just be for a while. When I answer that voice, I feel better. When I listen, things fall into place. With just the simplest of stretches and a few deep breaths, something shifts inside me … something whispers, ah, you’ve come back to where you’re supposed to be. Everything feels better somehow.

So, why not take the time this holiday season to just be for the littlest while. To stretch, to breathe, to come home. Take time to nurture, to restore, to balance that most valuable of assets. You.

Here’s a few simple stretches you might like to try*. Breathe slowly and easily as you stretch:

1. Sit back in your chair, your spine straight, feet on the floor. Lift your arms out to the sides and take them over your head as you slowly breathe in. Then breathe out slowly, easily, as your arms come back down to the sides. Repeat a couple more times, feeling your whole body release as you breathe out.

2. Hold on to the side of your chair, then breathe in and lift your left arm into the air. Breathe out and stretch gently to the right keeping your feet on the floor and your butt firmly in the chair. Feel the stretch down the left side of your body. Breathe in and release back to centre, breathe out as you lower your arm. Repeat to opposite side. 

3. Breathe in and interlock your fingers. Breathe out as you turn your palms out and straighten your arms out in front of you at shoulder height. Feel the stretch in your shoulder blades as you push away with your hands (keep your back straight and try not to lean forward). Breathe in and gently raise your arms overhead, feeling the ribcage lift. Breathe out, release your hands and bring your arms down to the sides. This is an excellent stretch for writers as it releases tension in the fingers, arms, shoulders and upper back.

4. Lie on the floor with your arms out to the sides, bend your knees and have your feet on the floor about hip width apart. Take a few deep breaths deep into your belly. The belly should expand as you breathe in, and relax back toward the floor as you breathe out. Close your eyes and just let yourself go for a few precious moments. Feel your whole body releasing and relaxing. Just be.

There. Feeling better? It just takes a few minutes and can make all the difference.  You’re worth it. You deserve it.

Seasons Greetings everyone!

Tricia

http://www.tricia-jones.com

*Check with your doctor if you have any concerns about your health.